The Hoover City Council is expected to fill the open spot on the Hoover Board of Education at the April 19 regular council meeting.

Four have applied for the board position, and interviews with each candidate were carried out April 15. One of the candidates, Donna Frazier, is the current Board of Education president and is applying for a second term on the board. Her term is up in May.

The four candidates are: Frazier; Arnold Singer, the vice president of programming for the Friends of Hoover; Barry Thomas, the co-chair of the Friends of Preparatory Music Endowment at the Samford University School of the Arts; and Terry Young, who helps sponsor several Hoover City Schools programs, such as Relay for Life and the Spain Park Beauty Walk.

In Frazier’s application, she said she feels called to serve her community, especially after a breast cancer scare half a decade ago.

“Five years ago when I interviewed for the school board position, I had just finished radiation treatment for breast cancer. What I told the City Council back then still applies today … my life was spared for a reason, and I was committed to serving the community who supported me and my family during my illness,” Frazier wrote.

Frazier also serves on the Hoover City Schools’ Student Assistance Team, which considers programs to address barriers to the student learning process, as well as the Bullying Committee, which focuses on bullying situations in the system.

Singer wrote in his application he’s interested in serving on the Hoover School Board because a seat on the board is the best way to ensure the system is being fiscally responsible.

Singer, who lived in Edison, N.J. before moving to Hoover, said Hoover already sets the pace for other cities, but there’s more work to be done.

“I tell my friends in Edison, New Jersey that Hoover, Alabama is the city that Edison dreams it could become,” Singer wrote. “I want to see every aspect of Hoover to succeed — especially the Hoover City Schools because their success is our children’s success.”

In Thomas’ application, he said he believes the critical issues facing Hoover schools are financial constraints and current overcrowding in the schools. He said he expects to deal with the issue of a possible third Hoover high school as a board member; however, he’s up to the task.

“I believe first and foremost, the primary responsibility of a school board member is to help set the vision, policies and strategic goals of the overall system,” he said.

Young wrote in his application that Hoover City Schools officials need to form a strategic plan for the future, especially drawing on feedback from the community. Community outreach is key, he wrote.

“I feel we need to approach parents through multiple mediums of communication. I know to a degree this takes place, but could be enhanced and grown so much more to break down doors and barriers for much better involvement,” Young wrote.